


Never Say Goodbye

by wispofgloom



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I cried writing this, M/M, Old Age, Sad, angels live longer than humans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 06:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16634723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wispofgloom/pseuds/wispofgloom
Summary: The flames flicker in Castiel’s sad eyes as he looks down at the necklace left in his hands.





	Never Say Goodbye

It had been years since the Winchesters and their angel had retired from hunting. They got a house on the beach and settled down. Dean and Castiel eventually got married, Sam found a girl and they too tied the knot. They made a sort of deal with Crowley that they wouldn’t kill any more demons as long as they and the people they cared about were safe from them, which, after saving his and the world’s asses multiple times, he thought was fair. 

It had been only months, though, since Dean realized he was dying. He knew he was old, he already always has aches and pains, but now was different. He felt himself slipping away with each passing hour. He had long ago made his peace with death. He knew he couldn’t tell this to his angel, the one who after he, after Sam, after all of he humans they know and love died, would still be alive.

He would have to live with the memory of the men he loved, one as a brother, the other as a soulmate, forever. He wouldn’t be able to forget them, remembering them as once so full of life to watching them waste away to nothing, until he was put to rest. All of these things were the reasons that when Dean knew it was his time, he asked Cas to drive him back to Sioux Falls, back to where he was buried before Cas pulled him out of hell. Cas carries Dean to the same place he had awoken so many years ago and lays him in the grass, Dean’s head in Castiel’s lap. 

“I have... so much left to say to you. How...” Cas chokes out, tears falling down his cheeks and pain unlike any he has felt before searing in his chest “how do I say goodbye?” Dean looks up at his angel, his eyes watery but a gentle smile on his face. He shakes his head, responding “Never say goodbye. It sounds too permanent.” He uses the last of his strength to each up and wipe a tear from Castiel’s cheek, then bring his face to his own for a lingering kiss. “Death isn’t goodbye. I’ll see you again, angel.”

Dean’s smile fades slightly as the light drains from his eyes. Castiel checks for a pulse, and when he finds none, his heart completely falls. He chokes out sobs as he cradles the hunter’s lifeless body in his arms. 

After deciding he had enough time holding what was left here on earth of the man he loved, Castiel built a pyre. He wrapped Dean in his coat, lay him atop the bed of sticks, and set it ablaze. The angel watched as the only one he had ever let himself love, the human he risked and ultimately sacrificed everything for, the hunter who had faith in him, the man he married and devoted himself fully to, went up in flames.

The flames flicker in Castiel’s sad eyes as he looks down at the necklace left in his hands.

” _Goodbye, Dean._ ”


End file.
